The 23-year-old is fresh off a “Submission of the Night” performance for his righteous mounted triangle armbar on Max Holloway at UFC 143. It was his fourth straight victory in the UFC and fifth consecutive overall.

Now, with one more win, Poirier is likely to be staring across the cage at champion Jose Aldo later this year.

Oh, and he has a documentary regarding his ascension called “FIGHTVILLE” set to premiere at select theaters nationwide on April 20. No big deal.

To obtain said win (and continue his “storyline”), Poirier (12-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) will have to find a way to deal with Chan Sung Jung (12-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC), affectionately known in MMA circles as “The Korean Zombie.” The pair headlines “UFC on FUEL TV 3: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier,” which takes place May 15 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.

“He’s going to bring the best out of me, and we’re going to test each other’s chin and each other’s will,” Poirier recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “It’s going to be a war, and I’m ready for that.

“I respect him as a fighter. He’s a fighter’s fighter. I like to see him go out there and fight because of the way he fights. He brings it. He tucks his chin and throws down and comes to battle every time.”

The two already shared a brief sparring session Feb. 8 on Twitter after Jung tweeted, “Dustin Poirier? 6 seconds!” Jung had a seven-second knockout win over Mark Hominick in his most recent fight at UFC 140.

To which Poirier replied, “Trust me you don’t want this… I will expose you.”

Getting caught in Jung’s twister submission – or any other submission for that matter – isn’t exactly in Poirier’s forecast either. Jung famously defeated Leonard Garcia with the first twister in UFC history at UFC Fight Night 24.

“I’ve got a guy not too far from me named Josh Mancuso,” Poirier said. “He’s a brown belt under Tim Credeur, and he really loves that rubber guard, 10th Planet-style jiu-jitsu. He has great half guard stuff, so he’s going to be working with me this camp, putting me in some crazy stuff and pretzeling me up. I’ll be ready for whatever [Jung’s] going to try.”

Instead, Poirier is preparing like he’ll be competing the entire allotted timeframe for the five-round fight.

“I’m training hard, and I’m ready to fight 25 minutes,” he said. “Of course I’ll be trying to finish the fight, but I won’t be disappointed if we bleed for 25 minutes.”

Looking ahead, well, it’s a bit counterproductive and unnecessary at the moment.

“I’m not really looking at Jose Aldo,” Poirier said. “I’m just focused on what’s at hand, and that’s the Zombie on May 15. All of my time and focus is just on him.

“But if I get my hand raised May 15, I’m sure I’m going to learn a lot in that fight, and I’ll be ready for whatever the future is going to bring. If the UFC wants me to fight for the title, then let’s do it.”

Fighting for a world championship is not something “FIGHTVILLE” directors Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein could have possibly envisioned for Poirier when they began filming him nearly three years ago – before he had even competed in his first professional fight. The cameras were there the whole time as Poirier worked his way up through the Louisiana regional MMA scene and beyond.

“It turned into an awesome documentary that I’m going to have forever and show my kids and fans,” he said. “I think it’s going to open a lot of people’s eyes who are not sure what MMA really is. And for the fans who do follow the sport, they’re going to love it. You’re going to see into a fighter’s life. It shows that we’re normal guys with families and jobs. We’re hard workers. We’re not just animals out there beating each other up or cockfighting like some may think it is.

“I think it’s going to help educate the people who don’t really know much about the sport, but it’s going to show it in a good way – in the way it should be seen.”

The film has already been shown at various film festivals, and as previously mentioned, it premieres in select theatres nationwide on April 20. In addition, Showtime Networks Inc. acquired the project but has yet to announce when it will broadcast on the premium-cable network.

It all seems to be coming together for Poirier at once, like it was all meant to be.

“I just think its destiny,” he said. “It happens the way it’s supposed to happen.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

From Our Partners

The Latest

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?